


Thimble

by PuppyGuppy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Aged Up, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Un-beta'd we die like men, dream eater!Riku but not how you think, h/c kind of, minor mentions of other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 02:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20400022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppyGuppy/pseuds/PuppyGuppy
Summary: "This belongs toyou. And it always will."





	Thimble

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly should be working on at least 100 other important wips, but my life is filled with way too much anger right now, so I drowned myself in _fluff. _
> 
> I wrote this during a lunchbreak at work, and just edited it quickly tonight. It's not much of anything, really- it doesn't really fit anywhere, and I doubt I'll ever expand on it. But-
> 
> I liked it enough to share. So I hope y'all can enjoy it for what it is. 
> 
> ❤️

"Riku,  _ I'm sorry."  _

Talking was hard, when Sora was feeling so much more than he ever thought his fourteen year old heart could bare. But he needed to  _ try,  _ even if it hurt and he was still winded from the fall. Even if his voice shook with obvious fear, and tears of heartache clogged his vision. This was his last chance. His farewell. 

But what could he possibly say to the boy who had both held his heart  _ and  _ crushed it? What did one say to a boy that he'd been best friends with for less than a year, but had already known for a lifetime? He didn't have time to gush about everything he felt, he didn't even  _ understand  _ everything he felt yet. And he certainly didn't want to hurt Riku, or worse,  _ embarrass  _ him in his last moments in front of his sworn enemy and everyone else. 

This wasn't about him. As much as he wanted it to be. As much as he wanted to kick and scream at Riku about everything that had happened, about how he was going to  _ die _ , Sora knew it didn't matter. What he was feeling didn't matter, because he would  _ live.  _ Live, and grow up, and as awful as it was, probably forget. 

Unless Riku went with him. 

"But," Sora gulped around the lump in his throat, voice just a whisper, and despite the throbbing ache in his side from where he'd landed, rolled over so he could properly face Riku. "I-I  _ have  _ to grow up. But this is yours. And you should have it."

Riku didn't flinch, nor even  _ look  _ as Sora lifted a shaky fist. He just stared up at the darkening sky above them, teal eyes vacant, skin looking even more pale against the bloody gash in his skull. He didn't get a chance to do anything more; in a flash, Hook reached out and grabbed Sora, tearing him away from the bleeding boy once more. Sora gasped and grunted as he went, wrist hot and tender in the pirate's grip. Hook gave him a weary, questioning brow, and emphasised it with the tip of a blade pointed at his neck. Sora didn't quiver this time. 

"It's just a thimble." No one, not even Captain Hook, knew what that meant. For as smart as he was, being one of the few grown men on the island, Sora knew he had lost all connections to the secret language that children could speak. 

It wasn't a lie, and he knew Hook could tell. Because it  _ wasn _ ' _ t  _ a lie. Sora couldn't lie to save his life; he'd already tried that,  _ once _ , with the same man now threatening to kill them all. 

It wasn't a lie. Just a different truth. 

He made sure not to look too victorious, not wanting to raise suspicions, but it was hard when Hook's face melted into one of mock innocence and warmth. It was even  _ harder  _ when the man crooned and released his grip, and had Sora not fallen from the sudden lack of support, he probably would have grinned. 

"By all means, my dear boy, give Riku your precious  _ thimble. _ " Right on queue, the whole ship laughed with their captain, save for the anxious eyes of Sora's brothers, the  _ Nobodies,  _ and the Pixies. 

Sora paid none of it any mind, attention focused solely back on Riku. Riku, who still refused to look at him. So Sora did what he had to do-

He rolled over,  _ gently _ of course, until he could kneel over his best friend. Though their eyes never met, he still took a moment to try and memorise eyes the same color as the calm, twinkling,  _ deceptive  _ waters of Mermaid Lagoon. He couldn't back down, not now. And he didn't  _ want  _ to. Riku deserved this. It was the only way Sora could think of getting it all  _ through  _ to Riku. It's the only thing that might make him want to go with him. And if not, he'd forget it all someday, anyways. 

He knew his mother would understand.

Slowly, as not to startle or hurt him, Sora leaned down to whisper words into Riku's ear, though he was unable to hear them over his own racing heart.

"This belongs to  _ you.  _ And it always will."

Just as slowly, Sora pushed himself back up, but only far enough to leave a few inches of space between his face and Riku. Riku, who was  _ finally _ looking at him again, the tiniest hint of a question in the way his silver brows twitched. Gosh, he really was  _ beautiful.  _ The prettiest boy he'd ever met. A boy worth losing a single dimple over. 

Sora took a deep breath, steadied himself, and placed his fisted hand against Riku's cheek. He watched curious eyes flick, give his fist a sideways glance, and then he opened his fist to reveal nothing but a warm, sweaty palm now cupping that pale cheek. He watched, and waited, until those eyes were back looking at him, and then he  _ moved _ , a bit too quickly due to nerves, and solidly pressed his lips to Riku's. 

Sora felt Riku gasp, a fluttery gust across his face, and closed his eyes, pressed a little deeper. He'd traveled across the galaxy, met mermaids, danced with pixies, fought with pirates, heck, he had literally  _ flown,  _ but nothing compared to what his soul was going through in that kiss. Grown-ups kissed. Grown-ups kissed  _ a lot.  _ And Sora all at once understood  _ why,  _ because all he wanted to do now was kiss Riku until the day he died. Growing up would be  _ worth it  _ if it meant growing up with Riku. So he could kiss Riku more. 

Which, judging by the commotion of the ship, would be sooner than any of them wanted. 

" _ That  _ was no thimble." He heard Roxas whisper, and this time he  _ did  _ smirk, even as he felt his arms gripped and bent behind himself before getting torn away from Riku  _ again. _ Because what did anything matter now? They were all probably going to die. And he'd kissed Riku.  _ He'd kissed Riku.  _ Dimple be damned, losing it was just another part of growing up, and he already felt like he could grin wider without it. 

He risked a look around the ship, around the crew, and realised that everyone else was looking at  _ Riku _ , all in various stages of slack-jawed wonder and fear. 

"Love's a powerful thing~" Ventus sang softly, more to himself, but Sora still heard it. 

He finally looked back down to the boy who now held his secret kiss, and his heart stopped. For a minute, Riku stared back at him, with wide eyes and an open face,  _ stunned.  _ But then he smiled, and then that smile turned into a grin, and with it, his body started to tremble, and behind Sora, Hook gasped, angry and scandalised, before letting him go in favor of bending over his best friend. Quickly, Hook's crew joined in, and any sign of Riku was blocked from Sora's vision. But what they didn't see was what he  _ did _ . 

All around them, the world shifted,  _ rippled _ ; the stormy skies parted to reveal a dazzling display of stars, the sea stilled until it became a liquid reflection, the ship appearing to hover, suspended in the middle of the universe, and a hush fell upon the crowd. No one was a prisoner because everyone was  _ captivated.  _

And then Hook squawked, voice cracking in what Sora guessed to be confusion and anger. 

"R-Riku, you're  _ pink! _ " 

And as if to prove the fact, Hook and his mates were forced to hit the deck when a glowing flash of  _ pink  _ erupted from beneath them, along with a cacophony of familiar, taunting laughter. 

"Riku!" Sora couldn't help his own peals of laughter, throwing up a supportive fist at the glowing form zipping around the sky. 

A bell rang on the ship, sharp and clear, a triumphant warning sign, and Sora waited until he saw everyone else take cover before curling up on himself, too. There was enough commotion still on the ship to inform him that Hook and his crew had no idea what was coming, but then again, neither did he- he just assumed it was going to be  _ big.  _

And big it was. 

The only other warning they got was Riku's boisterous, giddy crow, before several strong shock waves assaulted the ship. The waves were warm, and filled Sora with so much excitement he didn't know what to do with it. Brain bubbly, his body worked on its own, and he quickly found himself standing up with someone else's abandoned sword in his hand. 

He wasn't going to die.  _ Riku _ wasn't going to die. But they still had to get out of here. Sora still wanted to grow up with him. 

Something soft landed on his head and he jumped, startled, until a warm chuckle gave it away. Sora swivelled his head around to see Riku behind him, arms crossed and floating a foot above the deck. He was smiling that smile, the one that filled Sora's stomach with butterflies and made his face tingle. But instead of teal, Riku was squinting at him fondly with soft pink eyes.  _ All  _ of Riku was pink, not just his eyes, but his skin and hair, too. All different shades, and-

"You look like a sunrise." Sora teased, but it was true, and yet  _ another  _ shade of pink darkened Riku's face. 

Sora wasn't worried Riku wouldn't follow him anymore. He  _ had  _ to. If he didn't, Sora would never,  _ ever _ be able to forget the boy he'd made so  _ pretty _ .

Riku recovered quickly enough, but the blush didn't fade, it was just joined by a smirk.

"Nice to be on the same side again,  _ Captain Sora. _ " Sora grinned as Riku flicked the rim of the hat he had apparently been gifted. 

"Tis indeed,  _ Quartmaster Riku. _ "

~//~

"Do you ever regret leaving Never Land?"  _ Do you regret growing up? Do you regret growing up with me?  _ Goes left unsaid. 

Riku lowers the pan flute he'd been playing from his lips, and the world around them goes a type of silent that could easily tip over into uncomfortable, despite the gentle sound of rolling waves and creaking wood. Sora looks away, unable to take the question back, but also unable to stare the answer in the face. Instead, he just chews his bottom lip, thinks of the tune Riku had been playing (a song he somehow recognises without knowing  _ why _ ), pictures the man from a few moments prior with yellow flowers in his hair and a smile against his instrument. 

"Do I regret leaving Never Land?" Riku repeats the question, but his voice is full of warm contemplation. Not what Sora had expected at all, so he risks a sideways glance, sees the way Riku studies the ceiling through his bangs and leans back onto his elbows. But then he looks right back out the porthole. 

Sora  _ regretted-  _ regretted asking the blasted question. They had been  _ fine,  _ more than fine, they'd been  _ good.  _ And he had to go and make it weird with stupid questions, because sometimes he still couldn't believe the other man was even  _ there.  _ That he went to sleep, then woke up, and he was still there, not a dream or far off memory. And not even just there in the metaphysical sense, but there  _ with him.  _ Still, even after all the years. After he'd grown up. 

After they'd  _ both  _ grown up. 

After defeating Hook, more or less, and  _ after the kiss-  _ Sora had tried tooth and nail to convince Riku to leave Never Land with him. He'd been naive and thought Riku would need little persuading, especially after  _ that _ . But then again, Never Land was Riku's  _ home.  _ A home he had every right to not want to leave, even if it broke Sora's heart. 

But in the end, Riku had relented, and he'd done so with a smile; squinty pink eyes and all. But, he'd had stipulations. If he were to leave, so were the lost boys, the  _ Nobodies.  _ Sora hastily agreed, nodded his head vigorously to the excited cheers of the children around them (he was about to get  _ a lot  _ more siblings). But then,  _ someone else  _ had to stay; someone to keep the peace, and to guide those inevitable others who would find their way there.  _ That _ one had been a bit of a trickier request- the decision was obvious, but not easy. 

In the end, Naminé had stayed behind. Riku's closest friend, and a  _ witch  _ at that. She was the one who made people forget their lives outside of Never Land, and the reason time both existed but not. She felt she was too intricately woven into the place to leave, and if anyone washed upon the shores with a life they couldn't bare, she'd make it  _ better.  _ She'd craft them a life worth remembering, cherishing, and continuing. 

It had taken a lot out of Riku, saying goodbye to her. Sora had watched the pink drain from his hair, downwards, then twinkle out completely from his eyes. And he felt  _ terrible  _ then, for what he'd begged Riku to do. He didn't deserve that boy. Didn't deserve his magic, his protection, his  _ heart.  _ They'd shared a tight hug, then whispered something Sora hadn't been able to hear at the time. Apparently, it had been Riku saying he didn't want the memories of his first life back; usually, when someone left Never Land,  _ as rare as it was,  _ Naminé would gift them their original life back. But Riku didn't want that. He wanted to start a  _ new  _ life, a new chain of memories, with Sora. 

And Sora had blushed, given Naminé a bashful, guilty wave, and mouthed at her a quick  _ thank you.  _ She'd just smiled wistfully and tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, then gave each of the  _ Nobodies  _ a kiss on the head. And Sora's brothers, one of which looked  _ very embarrassed.  _ Not that Roxas remembered that now. 

No, there were only two people now that remember what lies behind that second star to the right. And even then, after the time that had passed, Sora sometimes struggled to differentiate between dreams and memories. 

"Hm, let's see. I'm travelling the world with my best friend at my side. The  _ rest _ of my friends are now safe and happy, spread all around that same world. I sail my own ship." Riku's voice was hardly anything more than a low hum, full of fond wonder, and it calmed Sora enough so that he could turn his head to fully look at him, and not at the midnight ocean below. 

When he turned his head, his cheek fell right into a warm, calloused palm. Sora couldn't  _ breathe.  _ Not with a man like Riku holding his face.  _ Especially  _ when his teal eyes squinted, all hard edges of maturity going soft in love, looking every bit a pixie with a halo of petals. Sora hadn't known  _ what  _ to expect when Riku agreed to grow up with him. But  _ this?  _ This was more than what his wild, young heart could have ever hoped for. 

Underneath the obscene muscle he'd built up, the towering height, the curtain of silver over his eyes, underneath the  _ man  _ Riku had become for him, Sora could still see the flying,  _ pink  _ boy he'd given his first kiss. 

Sora sucked in a shaky breath when Riku's thumb rubbed a soothing circle into the spot on his cheek where a dimple had once been. Everyone else assumed he'd just outgrown it, lost it along with  _ most  _ of his baby fat. But, they both knew the truth. 

"Never Land would have never been the same without you, Sora." Riku was smiling, and Sora was  _ flying  _ again _ .  _ It was like he'd somehow kept a stash of Pixie Dust somewhere in his heart, and every time Riku jostled it with a happy thought, his feet left the ground. He loved flying. He loved  _ Riku.  _

Suddenly, he knew  _ why  _ he recognised the song Riku had been playing. It was the same song his heart was hammering in his chest, thrumming through his veins, filling his eyes with water. He had to blink, teary and doe-eyed, but when he opened them again, he was staring into a cloudy sunrise as opposed to mysterious lagoons. 

It seems Riku had some spare magic left, too. 

" _ I  _ would have never been the same without you.  _ You  _ are my greatest adventure.  _ My star. _ "

Sora couldn't help it.  _ He was crying.  _ And then they were kissing, and he was  _ still  _ crying but also laughing. And it was moist and messy and marvelous. Because Riku was  _ here.  _ Just like he had been every day for the last ten years, and hopefully like he would be for the next hundred. At least, Sora  _ hoped  _ it was a hundred. That was the one downside to leaving Never Land; this was now their one and only chance. And even though sometimes that guilt would seep in, and Sora would worry Riku was wasting his chance on someone as ordinary as him, Riku would be there to remind him that it wasn't every day someone got kissed by a star. 

Sora didn't feel like a star, but his hair kind of looked like one. 

When they pulled apart, Riku's cheeks were as pink as his eyes, as pink as his lips, there was pollen on his shoulders, and though Sora never wanted to stop looking at him, he had to scrub the tears and snot off his face before it got  _ really  _ unpleasant. Sora never felt like a star, but Riku could always make him  _ see  _ stars. 

"Now that I've answered  _ your  _ question, how about you answer one of mine? Where to next,  _ Captain Sora?"  _ The softness from just a second ago was  _ gone,  _ replaced by an all-too-familiar smirk. That smirk had gotten them into a  _ lot  _ of trouble both in and out of Never Land. 

Sora had been weak on that look since the day Riku's bratty shadow,  _ Repliku,  _ busted into his room; it took him right back to the thrill of standing barefoot and wobbly-kneed on a windowsill, trusting in that same smirk that had told him to  _ fly.  _

Ten years later and his knees still shook. 

" _ Bed.  _ And straight on till morning."

Growing up hadn't been  _ easy.  _ It was full of weird, sad, scary things. And Sora still looked less of a man and more of a boy. But they had done it, and done it  _ together.  _ And together they discovered that growing up was also full of  _ lies;  _ the biggest being that, though Sora had given Riku his hidden kiss, he actually had  _ a lot more  _ where that came from. And they were all barely concealed then within his own smirk, just  _ begging  _ to be pressed into the skin of the man before him who resembled a Cheshire moon. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you know the exact movie adaptation of Peter Pan this is based off of, you are an individual of great taste. 👌


End file.
